Leo Durocher returned as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers to start the 1948 season but was fired in mid-season. He was replaced first by team coach Ray Blades and then by Burt Shotton, who had managed the team to the 1947 pennant. The Dodgers finished third in the National League after this tumultuous season. Preacher Roe and Ralph Branca were in the starting rotation, but Carl Erskine only appeared in a handful,of games, and Don Newcombe would not join the staff until the following year.